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My first year of research in the field of plasmonics has been a varied one, covering a diverse range of topics. The topic necessarily includes elements of numerical analysis and structure fabrication, in addition to the optical measurements which are the eventual measure of merit for any system produced. As a consequence, my project does not follow a single linear path, but rather combines several strands in parallel, as I have picked up techniques in fabrication on one line of inquiry while also performing optical measurements or writing software for another.

In this report, I outline measurements of the attenuation length of plasmons in gold waveguides, as well as  scattering simulations of nanometer-scale plasmonic antennas. The waveguides were fabricated using electron beam lithography, and attenuation lengths were determined using offset confocal microscopy.

In \fref{chap:theory} I provide some theoretical background to plasmonic responses and the dielectric properties of metals which give rise to them. \Fref{chap:experimental} covers some of the experimental simulation, fabrication and measurement techniques used to produce and characterize structures. \Fref{chap:results} presents the results obtained so far. An outlook for future projects is presented in \fref{chap:outlook}, and results are summarized in \fref{chap:conclusions}.

This work was carried out in the ``Atomic, Mesoscopic and Optical Physics'' group \emph{Quantum Optics and Mesoscopic Systems} sub-group of Dr Mete Atat\"{u}re at the
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. Measurements and fabrication were planned and performed in
collaboration with Dr Yury Alaverdyan.

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